Imprivata's OneSign Simplifies Password Management - page 2

What is Single Sign-On?

November 15, 2004

By
Rob Reilly

Hussain said that Linux was chosen for several reasons.

Imprivata wanted an operating system with a small footprint, better system performance, and one that was easier to secure than comparable Microsoft Windows based offerings. They also wanted flexibility in customizing the security and run time behavior needed for the SSO application.

As for marrying Linux to an appliance type device Hussain said, "most network administrators like appliances." He went on to say that in the past, solutions to the user name/password management situation were strictly software based.

Imprivata's Linux based appliance features an application profile generator that allows IT administrators to use a point and click web based OneSign tool to "learn" desktop applications. It doesn't matter if the application is a Win32 program, a web application in MS Internet Explorer (or other browsers), or a host mainframe application. User interfaces, such as the command line and Java/JVM applications are also supported.

The new OneSign appliance is a SUSE Linux based machine that utilizes MySQL as its secure back-end authentication database.

Each OneSign order is actually shipped with two appliances, so there is always a backup/fail-over system for authenticating users. To limit hacking opportunities, each machine has only two ports open, one for the admin function and the other for the fail-over.

Consolidating the authentication database, administrator interface web server and fail-over logic into a tightly controlled and integrated Linux machine, cuts down on problems associated with off-the-shelf software only solutions. The machines are delivered, plugged in, and taught the applications. Offering a combination hardware/software solution also makes Imprivata OneSign desirable for the small to medium size enterprise, because IT managers can get their password management under control with a minimum of architecture discussion and effort.